How hundreds of Albanian small boat migrants have taken over Britain's cannabis market

Hundreds of Albanian migrants who reached Britain on small boats across the Channel are now believed to have taken control of the country's cannabis trade.

Many have been snapped up to work on illegal cannabis 'farms' - with contacts shared via a secret channel on messaging service Telegram, it has been reported.

The drug production bases are said to often be set up in rented homes as well as industrial buildings which have fallen into disuse.

Conversations on the app reportedly cover topics such as the best chemicals to boost cannabis plant growth - and even recommendations to use crossbows rather than guns to fend off rival drug-dealing gangs.

The revelations which suggest more than 700 Albanians are using the service to bolster their UK drug trade operations follow an undercover probe by the Telegraph .

It has been suggested that the teams produce cannabis crops worth £2million per time - grown and harvested in just three months.

Yet there have also reportedly been discussions shared about robberies in which cannabis 'farm' workers have had their fingers chopped off by rival intruders.

And landlords of properties are said to have demanded profit shares running into five-figure sums.

National Crime Agency officials say Albanian gangs have increasingly turned to dealing in 'very very low-risk' cannabis after previously prioritising cocaine.

People in the UK are said to consume 240 tonnes of cannabis each year, encouraging a market now worth an estimated annual £2.4billion - and all the more valued for being homegrown rather than running risks involved with importation .

And a swell in the number of Albanians crossing the channel has provided a ready workforce, with a total 12,685 coming to Britain on small boats in 2022 .

The Albanians' 703-member channel on Telegram now under scrutiny is called 'Kusho', meaning 'cousin' and often used as a fond nickname between friends.

Posts shared on the messaging service have now been revealed by an Albanian reporter who got into the group and found one of the organisers telling members: 'Everyone, you need to know how to grow "roses".

One Albanian contributing to the conversations recommended spending £337 on a crossbow rather than a gun due to lesser sentences if caught, the Telegraph said.

Another poster was quoted on how attacks by rival gangs were more of a concern than being caught by the police, saying: 'Most robberies in the cannabis houses are happening in Leicester. They cut off the fingers of an Albanian worker.'

And London-based Albanian reportedly wrote: 'Police are not the big problem. The main problem is robbers who are now using drones to identify the houses. They detect the heat from the plants through the roofs of the houses.'

The new details come after it was revealed earlier this month how Albanian criminal gangs are openly recruiting cannabis farmers on TikTok after previously turning to social media to advertise people smuggling routes.

Gang bosses have been seeking live-in labourers and offering them up to 30 percent of the profit from street sales amid a steep decline in the number of Albanians crossing the Channel to the UK.

One TikTok video advert said: 'I am the owner of a cannabis house. I chatted to my worker then all things went wrong. Now I am giving this employee 30 per cent of the profit made in that house without living expenses.'

TikTok told MailOnline the video was taken down several weeks ago and added its community guidelines state the platform was committed to ensuring it was not used to take advantage of vulnerable people or to promote content facilitating or coordinating human smuggling acts and services.

Gangs had used similar tactics to advertise illegal smuggling routes to the UK for fellow Albanians, including via lorries, ferries and boats.

It is believed the open recruitment drive - with potentially large cash rewards - was stepped up due to a sharp increase in deportations since the Conservative former government reached a deal with Albania at the end of 2022.

The number of Albanians arrested in the UK for cannabis offences has also risen, the Telegraph reported.

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Some 29 Albanians received jail sentences between eight months and two years in July, and a further 24 were convicted last month.

After the arrival of more than 12,000 Albanians entering the UK illegally in 2022 , only 150 are thought to have come using such routes this year.

Previously, the gangs had been using TikTok and Instagram to advertise people smuggling services to fellow Albanians.

Many promised a '100 percent safe passage' on 'top of the range' inflatable boats and life jackets.

Some of the adverts said charges began at £3,000 for an adult and £2,500 for a child - while others quoted far higher rates.

Working in conjunction with Kurdish gangs, Albanians were publicising the routes and taking money from would be travellers – while offering those that don't have the cash the option of working for criminal gangs in the UK to pay the money back.

A source in the Albanian capital Tirana told MailOnline at the time: 'The gangs are making thousands from people who want to cross and it's all because in Albania wages and work are very low and non-existent.

'An Albanian guy in a small village knows his prospects are poor if he stays in his country but he knows if he goes to the UK he can make a lot of money and send it back to his family.'

Border Security Minister Angela Eagle said earlier this month: 'It's shocking that criminal gangs use social media to prey on vulnerable people, luring them into working in abhorrent conditions and cultivating drugs such as cannabis with false promises of profit.

'Whether online or on our streets, there must be no hiding place for those who break the law.

'We are surging enforcement activity to make more arrests, increasing prosecutions not just in the UK but with partners across Europe, and ensuring all of our relevant partners are working hand-in-glove under our new border security command.'

Earlier this month Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer met his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni in Rome, where he said he wanted to look at Italy's plan to 'offshore' some asylum processing to Albania .

The government is also considering paying countries such as Vietnam to help stem the flow of migrants to Europe.